Firms scoring 50-60% were more strongly criticised by their staff for career development which, while not appalling, was almost appalling.

"I assume it's the same elsewhere", said an Ashurst (58%) senior solicitor. "No champion (or, like me, your champion jumps ship) and you get consigned to a workerbee role with less than zero chance of being made up". At Clyde & Co (58%) there was not, said a junior solicitor, "the same career ladder that the current partners enjoyed. They're doing a great job of pulling the ladder up behind them".

"Development is what you make of it", said an Allen & Overy (57%) junior solicitor, butting against his colleagues' largely mediocre scores. "Too many associates" were "complaining about a lack of opportunities and hanging onto coat-tails of more successful colleagues". He said, "The chances are there if you want them".

"Up to Senior Associate is fine" at Freshfields (54%), said a senior solicitor. "After that it's a bit like visiting a fortune teller - a few vague promises to keep you going". Its 'Career Milestone' system "is almost universally hated", said a junior lawyer, "and seems to be a way of holding associates back and creating division rather than promoting the stars".


  A typo resulted in an issue with the initial promotional literature which was quickly resolved.  

"Lots of lateral hires from Magic Circle firms means the home grown talent is shafted" at Watson Farley Williams (52%), said a junior solicitor, "and generally sneered at from the laterals". Career development? "Don't make me laugh!" said a WFW solicitor. "Young good-for-nothing partners feeding from the plates of old dinosaurs". Although, said an NQ, the new head of learning and development "together with effort from the PSLs" was "making huge progress with the training programme for associates". 

At HFW (51%), said a happy paralegal, "They offered me a training contract :D". It was all "Lies, lies, lies," said a solicitor. "More 'two year plans' that go nowhere than a Soviet Republic". Over the past four to five years, said a Holman Fenwick & Willan colleague, "progression has become terrible. Everyone has been promoted to senior associate without pay increases but there is almost no scope for promotion to partnership". It "created a terrible atmosphere amongst more senior associates". 
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